kowloon walled city park, 九龙城寨

a walled-in park with a history of military and triads, demolition and preservation –  in the middle of bustling kowloon, hong kong – the slight hum from the traffic outside the walls and artifacts of its history remind you to be grateful for the peace

the book i’m reading in the photo below, Ghostwritten by David Mitchell, happened to tell a story about the “3 fates of the world” – i can’t help but wonder if the photo above is any relation to that. in the center is a crane, the depicted images around the circle are bats, and theres a tiny black dot among the trees which i’m wondering if it could be a locust perhaps?

“there are three who think about the fate of the world. first there is the crane. see how lightly he treads, picking his way between the rocks in the river? tossing and tilting back his head. the crane believes that if he takes just one heavy step, the mountains will collapse and the ground will quiver, and trees that have stood for a thousand years will tumble. second, the locust. all day the locust sits on a pebble, thinking that one day the flood will come and deluge the world, and all living things will be lost in the churn and the froth and black waves. that is why the locust keeps such a watchful eye on the high peaks, and the rain clouds that might be gathering there. third, the bat. the bat believes that the sky may fall and shatter, and all living things die. thus the bat dangles from a high place, fluttering up to the sky, and down to the ground and up to the sky again, checking that all is well”

kowloon walled city park

九龙城寨

@

about a 15 minute walk south from Lok Fu MTR station on the Kwun Tong, green line

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kowloon_Walled_City